The Whole Health Center

Reconsidering our Mission

Part I - Paul Weiss to the Board

In June 2001 the Whole Health Center entered its 21st year of existence, having touched the lives of many people of downeast Maine as it evolved with the times. When we first opened our doors it was a very different landscape as far as health consciousness was concerned. Much that we take for granted now – such as the role of diet in the cause and prevention of cancer and other degenerative illnesses – was still largely dismissed. Alternative therapies, such as herbs, massage and acupuncture, have moved during that time from the fringe to the mainstream. These times also saw growth of the ‘recovery’ and self-help programs; and a growing recognition of the ways in which the mind and the emotions are fundamental to the state of our health and immunity. There is even a new field of research and practice with a fancy name – psychoneuroimmunology – that sums up much of what we’ve done here at the Whole Health Center.

Thomas Edison said, “The doctor of the future will give no drugs, but will interest his patients in the cause and prevention of illness, in nutrition, and in the care of the human frame.” If we include in this the dimension of mental and emotional health we get a picture of the practical mission of the WHC over the last twenty years.

From the outset the WHC maintained that the understanding and the natural tools existed to support each human being in the manifesting of his or her fundamental health and wholeness, and that that wholeness was of the body, mind and spirit. At a time when international terror, corporate greed, and the degradation of our natural and human communities are more pervasive than ever, the spiritual as well as the practical mission of the WHC remains clear.

We are not cells isolated from our whole social and planetary experience. The life of the larger body lives in us, and vice versa. We all participate in, and are moved by, the suffering of the whole. Thus the spiritual mission of the WHC addresses the question: How do we realize a life based on wholeness, love, service and an openness to the mystery of our essential and deep interrelatedness in a world that appears to be driven by violence, greed, separateness and fear? We all live with the consequences of these negative forces as they have impacted our own growth and our environment. Thus the work of the WHC has always proceeded with a consciousness and appreciation of both the small and the large picture.

Program History

The Whole Health Center was launched as a non-profit corporation in 1981 by Paul Weiss and Alexandra Lounsbery with a strong community of local support that became our original Board of Directors. It was a pioneer in the state of Maine, offering a broad array of services that these days are referred to as ‘complementary health care.’ They are, in fact, services that support, at the foundation level, the body’s immunologic and regenerative activities: that is, its natural capacity to stay well. The Whole Health Center sought to address the fact that today’s exploding health care costs are almost entirely directed to treating stress-related illnesses or degenerative conditions brought about by various life style factors and choices.

Our educational activities included classes and workshops, and talks in the community on issues of holistic health, nutrition, stress management, etc. We hosted many prominent teachers, including pioneering cancer surgeon Bernie Siegel, who addressed the psychological aspects of healing in successive conferences that filled the MDI High School gym and the Hancock County Auditorium to overflowing. We were quick to address emerging issues, such as the growing awareness of child sexual abuse in our society, and we founded the first support group for incest survivors in Maine. Most of our energies went to meet the needs of individual clients in the areas of counseling, stress management, nutrition, and physical therapies. Yet our various support groups, as much as the individual clinical work, were at the heart of the Center’s vitality and growth, for they provided a climate not only for individual support and healing, but also for each participant to discover his or her own natural skill or capacity to offer help to others.

In 1991 much of the individual therapy practice was made separate from the educational activities of the Wholistic Health Resource Center, Inc., but Paul still offers pro bono services, as needed, under its auspices. Meanwhile our educational activities took some new directions in the nineties. We began a series of professional trainings for therapists, transmitting Paul’s growing expertise in the areas of stress management, meditation, mind/body integration, and deepening communication within couples and groups.

We also promoted the study of qi gong – a traditional Chinese science of working with the healing energies of body and spirit that is very relevant to modern holistic approaches to healing. Paul’s study of qi gong stemmed from his study of tai chi, beginning in 1967, and led to the first of his six trips to China in 1994 to train and bring back knowledge of qi gong principles and practices. On the last three visits the WHC invited a growing number of Mainers along for the China experience, and is now hosting prominent teachers from China to visit our local community. In 1998 the WHC was declared an affiliate by the Chinese Taoist Medical Qi Gong Hospital in Beijing. Paul has taught widely in Maine and has also given free talks and ongoing classes to hospitals, schools, and the Maine MS society. For the last three years he has worked with the fourth and first graders at the Northeast Harbor Elementary School.


HOME SERVICES * New * FOUNDATIONS OF SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY ABOUT US TRUE HEART / TRUE MIND INTENSIVES Also called the Enlightenment Intensive CURRENT SCHEDULE Classes, Retreats, Workshops & Groups LIFE SKILLS FOR THE 21st CENTURY Available Trainings CHINA TRIPS WRITINGS By Paul Weiss TALKS (MP3s) AFFILIATE LINKS CONTACT US	Reconsidering our Mission Part I - Paul Weiss to the Board In June 2001 the Whole Health Center entered its 21st year of existence, having touched the lives of many people of downeast Maine as it evolved with the times. When we first opened our doors it was a very different landscape as far as health consciousness was concerned. Much that we take for granted now – such as the role of diet in the cause and prevention of cancer and other degenerative illnesses – was still largely dismissed. Alternative therapies, such as herbs, massage and acupuncture, have moved during that time from the fringe to the mainstream. These times also saw growth of the ‘recovery’ and self-help programs; and a growing recognition of the ways in which the mind and the emotions are fundamental to the state of our health and immunity. There is even a new field of research and practice with a fancy name – psychoneuroimmunology – that sums up much of what we’ve done here at the Whole Health Center. Thomas Edison said, “The doctor of the future will give no drugs, but will interest his patients in the cause and prevention of illness, in nutrition, and in the care of the human frame.” If we include in this the dimension of mental and emotional health we get a picture of the practical mission of the WHC over the last twenty years. From the outset the WHC maintained that the understanding and the natural tools existed to support each human being in the manifesting of his or her fundamental health and wholeness, and that that wholeness was of the body, mind and spirit. At a time when international terror, corporate greed, and the degradation of our natural and human communities are more pervasive than ever, the spiritual as well as the practical mission of the WHC remains clear. We are not cells isolated from our whole social and planetary experience. The life of the larger body lives in us, and vice versa. We all participate in, and are moved by, the suffering of the whole. Thus the spiritual mission of the WHC addresses the question: How do we realize a life based on wholeness, love, service and an openness to the mystery of our essential and deep interrelatedness in a world that appears to be driven by violence, greed, separateness and fear? We all live with the consequences of these negative forces as they have impacted our own growth and our environment. Thus the work of the WHC has always proceeded with a consciousness and appreciation of both the small and the large picture. Program History The Whole Health Center was launched as a non-profit corporation in 1981 by Paul Weiss and Alexandra Lounsbery with a strong community of local support that became our original Board of Directors. It was a pioneer in the state of Maine, offering a broad array of services that these days are referred to as ‘complementary health care.’ They are, in fact, services that support, at the foundation level, the body’s immunologic and regenerative activities: that is, its natural capacity to stay well. The Whole Health Center sought to address the fact that today’s exploding health care costs are almost entirely directed to treating stress-related illnesses or degenerative conditions brought about by various life style factors and choices. Our educational activities included classes and workshops, and talks in the community on issues of holistic health, nutrition, stress management, etc. We hosted many prominent teachers, including pioneering cancer surgeon Bernie Siegel, who addressed the psychological aspects of healing in successive conferences that filled the MDI High School gym and the Hancock County Auditorium to overflowing. We were quick to address emerging issues, such as the growing awareness of child sexual abuse in our society, and we founded the first support group for incest survivors in Maine. Most of our energies went to meet the needs of individual clients in the areas of counseling, stress management, nutrition, and physical therapies. Yet our various support groups, as much as the individual clinical work, were at the heart of the Center’s vitality and growth, for they provided a climate not only for individual support and healing, but also for each participant to discover his or her own natural skill or capacity to offer help to others. In 1991 much of the individual therapy practice was made separate from the educational activities of the Wholistic Health Resource Center, Inc., but Paul still offers pro bono services, as needed, under its auspices. Meanwhile our educational activities took some new directions in the nineties. We began a series of professional trainings for therapists, transmitting Paul’s growing expertise in the areas of stress management, meditation, mind/body integration, and deepening communication within couples and groups. We also promoted the study of qi gong – a traditional Chinese science of working with the healing energies of body and spirit that is very relevant to modern holistic approaches to healing. Paul’s study of qi gong stemmed from his study of tai chi, beginning in 1967, and led to the first of his six trips to China in 1994 to train and bring back knowledge of qi gong principles and practices. On the last three visits the WHC invited a growing number of Mainers along for the China experience, and is now hosting prominent teachers from China to visit our local community. In 1998 the WHC was declared an affiliate by the Chinese Taoist Medical Qi Gong Hospital in Beijing. Paul has taught widely in Maine and has also given free talks and ongoing classes to hospitals, schools, and the Maine MS society. For the last three years he has worked with the fourth and first graders at the Northeast Harbor Elementary School.
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